Finished watching Inside Out directed by Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen and staring Kaitlyn Dias, Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling and Lewis Black. The film opens up with a baby Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) waking up for the first time with her emotions Joy (Amy Poehler) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) who take form in her subconscious as Riley sees her mother (Diane Lane) and farther (Kyle MacLachlan) for the fist time. As time fast forwards Riley's other emotions Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Lewis Black) manifest throughout her childhood. At the age of eleven Riley and her family relocate from Minnesota to San Francisco due to her father getting a new job. At Riley's first day of school Joy try's to make Riley have happy memory's due to having a bad first day in San Francisco. As Riley introduces herself to her new class she breaks down due to missing her life in Minnesota causing her to have a new core memory, with it being a sad memory Joy attempts to send it to Riley's long term memory which leads to Joy, Sadness and the rest of the core memory's being sent to long term, leaving Riley with Disgust, Fear and Anger in control of her emotions until Joy and Sadness can return. Overall this was an amazing film as the story is very relatable with some parts having some emotional moments as well. Lewis Black's character Anger is extremely funny and steals the spotlight every time he's on screen. While the journey that Joy and Sadness take inside Riley's brain has some interesting twists and turns throughout the story. 9/10.
Finished reading Guardians of the Galaxy: Guardians Disassembled, this continues the Guardians of the Galaxy series from writer Brian Michael Bendis with the Guardians being separated to different parts of the galaxy by members of the Galactic Council. The book opens up on Earth as corporal Flash Thompson is being briefed about the Guardians of the Galaxy by Tony Stark. Once the Guardians enter the room Flash joins the team as Agent Venom. Once in space on board the Guardians ship Star Lord, Rocket and Groot come under fire by Spartax warships. Meanwhile Gamora is captured by a bounty hunter who was apparently killed by Rocket earlier in the series. Elsewhere Drax and Venom are in Knowhere shopping for weapons when Drax is captured by the Shi'ar while Venom is captured by a group of Skrulls posing as the Avengers. With Guardians separated Star Lord's farther J'son finally has Peter where he whats him so he and his teammates can pay for their crimes against the Spartax empire. Overall this was a good book as it wrapped up the plot line with J'son that has been a part of this series since the beginning. The spotlight changing between each character flows well. The back story's that are featured at the end of the book gives the origins to Agent Venom, Groot and how Captain Marvel took up her current mantel as well as a story featuring the original Guardians in 3014 which is a set up for the Guardians 3000 series. What lets the book down is that the art work of the main story is mostly in a state of flux with it sometimes changing in the middle of a scene with some art being very different to the previous page. 7.5/10.
Finished reading Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More, this begins writer Kelly Sue DeConnick's second Captain Marvel series which puts Carol on an adventure into space. The book opens up with Carol and a small group of aliens on the other side of the galaxy where they are being followed which leads to a fight breaking out. The book then flashbacks to six weeks prior with Captain Marvel and Iron Patriot stumbling across an alien who has found their way to Earth. After Iron Man meats with Carol he suggests that Rhodey should go into space and be the one who takes the young alien home Carol then convinces Rhodey that she should be the one to go space. Once on her travels Carol meets with the Guardians of the Galaxy who help her deal with some space pirates named the Haffensye. Once on board Captain Marvel's ship Rocket accidentally awakens the young alien named Tic who has a strong hatred to Star Lord as he's the son of J'son the leader of the Spartax who is trying to force inhabitants of Tic's new home world off the planet which they inhabited in the aftermath of their original planet being destroyed by the Builders during the events of Infinity. Once on the planet Torfa Captain Marvel meets with the planet's leader Madame Eleanides who asks for Carols help as many of the planet's occupants have fallen sick to a unknown illness which they have no idea of how to cure. Overall this was a great book as it keeps the same heart and tone of its predecessor which is great. The inclusion of the Guardians of the Galaxy is great as it brings some great comedic moments expressly with Rocket as he starts freaking out around Carol's cat Chewe, believing it to be a dangerous alien as well as Tic's interaction with Star Lord helps to further on the plot. While the fight scenes are amazing as they a choreographed well and have Captain Marvel showcasing some of her battle skills. 8/10.
Finished watching Ant-Man directed by Peyton Reed and staring Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd, Abby Ryder Fortson, Michael Peña, Evangelina Lilly, Corey Stoll, David Dastmaichian and T.I. The film opens up with a flashback to 1989 as a young Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) quits S.H.I.E.L.D after discovering that they are trying to recreate his formula. In the present Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is released from prison and tries to go on the straight and narrow by finding a job to be a better dad to his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). After losing his job Scott decides to burgle Hank Pym after his old cellmate Luis (Michael Peña) got information about the job. Scott ends up stealing the Ant-Man suit and after using it for the first time he breaks back into Pym's house to return the suit after getting scared of the suits power when he uses it which leads to Scott getting arrested. After Hank helps Scott escape from police custody the two of them are joined by Hanks daughter Hope (Evangelina Lilly) as they devise a plan to break in to Hanks company, Pym Technologies and stop current CEO Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from selling a new form of Hanks shrinking technology. Overall the was a great film as the character dynamic between Hope and Hank aswell as Scott and his family makes the film more relatable as family relationships are at the heart of the film and help fuels Scott's motivation. The comedy is great expressly from Scott's friends and accomplishes Luis, Kurt (David Dastmaichian) and Dave (T.I) as each of them steal the spotlight anytime they are on screen. 8/10.
Finished reading Young Avengers: Alternative Culture this continues the Young Avengers story as they are avoiding New York so Kid Loki can further train Wiccan in order to defeat the the extra diminutional parasite called the Mother. The book opens up with David Alleyne working as tech support for superheroes as he gets calls from many different heroes asking for help. David comes across former Young Avenger Tommy Shepherd who works for the same company making circuit boards. Once the two become good friends they find out that someone is going about in the costume of Tommy's former team member Patriot, which they discover has seemingly come to life when it teleports Tommy to an unknown place. This causes David to find the Young Avengers who have been travelling in an attempt to avoid any contact with their parents or New York as it could cause the remerging of the extra dimensional parasite known as the Mother for the past three months. Once they meet with David the team head back to the last sighting of Patriot who leads them on a chase across the multiverse. Overall this was a great book as it betters itself from the previous book as it dives straight in to the story without the need for any set up. The comedy is stellar with Loki continuing to be the the source of the comic relief as well as Tommy at the beginning of the book. Also the last half of the book takes a more serious tone as the spotlight land on Hulkling who takes time away from the Young Avengers. 8/10.
Finished reading Guardians of the Galaxy/ All New X-Men: The Trial of Jean Grey this continues the adventures of the original X-Men in the present as they team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to deal with the consequences of Jean Grey's future self when she was the host of the Phoenix Force. The book open up with the X-Men being attacked by a small group of Shi'ar soldiers who break into their facility and kidnap Jean Gray. Meanwhile on the other side of the galaxy at Knowhere Star Lord is almost captured by a Skrull bounty hunter who is disguised as Gamora but is noticed by the real Gamora and Angela as they save Peter from the Skrull. Back on board their ship Rocket overhears a transmission about the Shi'ar heading to Earth to bring Jean Grey to trial for her crimes as the Phoenix. When the Guardians show up late they team up with the X-Men and head for the home world of the Shi'ar to rescue Jean from her captives as she is put on a public trial by Gladiator the leader of the Shi'ar. Overall this was a great book as the fight scenes are executed extremely well with the space and starship battles are stunning as the artwork across the book is extremely captivating. While the comedy hits its mark from Tony Stark not knowing how a space phone properly works to the interactions between both the Guardians and the X-Men. Also the story moves along at a nice pace as it blended well with the of the two teams on the ship and the scenes with Jean at her trial. 8.5/10.
Finished watching Ted 2 staring director Seth MacFarlane, Jessica Barth, Mark Wahlberg, Amanda Seyfried and Giovanni Ribisi. The film opens up with Ted (Seth MacFarlane) and Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth) getting married while Ted's best friend John (Mark Wahlberg) is rundown due to a painful device. One year later Ted and Tami-Lynn marriage is on the brink of collapse leading to Ted deciding to have a child in hoping to re-ignite their love for each other. After the discovery that Tami-Lynn is infertile they decide to adopt only for Ted to discover that he's not legally a person and in the eyes of the law he's property. This causes Ted and John to file a court case with their new lawyer Samantha (Amanda Seyfried) to give Ted his identity back. Overall this was a decent film as the majority of the comedy hits its mark every time thanks to the use of slapstick comedy and the references to pop culture also brings some great comedic moments as well. What lets the film down is that the first scene with Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) seems forced as it comes a fairway into the film so it can set up Donny as the antagonist who conveniently works for the toy company the who originally manufacturer Ted years prior. 6.5/10.
Finished reading Avengers: Adapt or Die, writer Jonathan Hickman continues his Avengers run as the team deal with different versions of themselves and a time traveler. The book opens up in the year 3030 as someone named Rhodey who is wearing a futuristic Iron-Man armour heads to the present with the support of Franklin Richards. In the present the Avengers are having a get together while Tony Stark and Captain America are rethinking the Avengers lineup as the future Iron-Man appears warning the team of an oncoming rogue planet heading straight for Earth leading to the Avengers building a defence mechanism against the rogue planet on Mars to stop it from crashing into the Earth. The rest of the book has A.I.M reactivating their inter dimensional portal which bringing a villainous version of the original Avengers to the main universe after saving them form the destruction of the Villainous Avengers Earth thanks to an incursion. Once in New York the villainous Avengers are brought to the attention of the main Avengers when S.H.I.E.L.D bring them in after finding the dead body of the evil Ant-Man as the rest of the villainous Avengers try to conquer the world by scaremongering the people of New York. Overall this was a good book as it has the Avengers dealing with problems more closer to Earth while a much bigger problem is looming on the horizon. The back story with A.I.M's Adaptoids is very interesting as it answers some questions raised earlier in the series while the ending of it is quite a shocker. Also the main Bruce Banner steals the book as he meets his counterpart which leads to some great dialogue and the conversation he has with Tony Stark towards the end of the book is amazing especially with how Banner goes about it. 7.5/10.
Finished reading Superior Spider-Man: Superior Venom, this continues the story of Doctor Octopus inhabiting Spider-Man's body after escaping his dead one, by writers Dan Slott and Christos Gage. The book opens up with the supernatural villain Blackout kidnapping Peter Parker's Aunt May in the hope to get Peter to compromise Spider-Man's equipment making him vulnerable and easier for Blackout to defeat him. The next story has Flash Thompson coming back to New York as Agent Venom who is on the trail of the Crime Master with Agent Venom going undercover to stop the Crime Master. Meanwhile Peter Parker is opening is own company, Parker Industries when he hears about Venom's return causing him to go and stop Venom by suiting up as Spider-Man. After the fight Flash goes to met Peter at his apartment where Peter offers to give him his legs back after the procedure worked so well for his Aunt May's damaged leg. During the procedure the Venom symbiote is separated from Flash and attaches itself to Spider-Man dubbing himself the Superior Venom which leads to large conflict with the Avengers when the symbiote becomes to much for Doc Ock to comprehend. The final story deals with the aftermath of the Venom incident as the Avengers call Spider-Man in about his recent out of character behaviour. Overall this was an amazing book as the relationships between each character is mainly the vocal point of the book with Doc Ock taken his relationship with his girlfriend Anna Maria further as she meets with Aunt May which makes the character more sympathetic as Anna Maria seems to bring out the best in Otto. While the side story with the Green Goblin and his underground organisation continues with Goblins plans slowly coming into fruition. 9/10.
Finished watching Terminator Genisys directed Alan Taylor and staring Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Matt Smith, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lee Byung-hun. The film opens up with Kyle Reece (Jai Courtney) narrating how Skynet took over and how he first met John Connor (Jason Clarke). In 2029 the Human Resistance led their final assault on Skynet, realising that this could be the end Skynet send the original T-800 back to 1984 to kill Sara Conner (Emilia Clarke) before John was born. In a bid to save Sara, Kyle volunteers to go back in time and stop the terminator from completing its mission. As Kyle to begins to travel back in time the timeline changes as Skynet reveals itself to be undercover as one of the resistance members (Matt Smith) who apprehends John causing the change with Kyle gaining the memories of an alternative childhood. In 1984 Sara Connor and her adopted farther (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a reprogrammed T-800 deal with the other terminator that was sent to kill Sara and rescue Kyle from a T-1000 (Lee Byung-hun) who had been waiting for him to arrive. After dealing with and destroying the remains of the T-1000 and the original T-800 Sara and Kyle travel to the future to stop Skynet from ever going live with the use of a prototype time machine Sara's adopted father builds and uses the chip of the fallen T-800 to power it. Overall this was a great film as the action and the si-fi are blended well which helps the plot. While the relationship between Sara and her terminator is very remanesant to that of the relationship between John Connor and the T-800 in the second Terminator film. 8/10.
Finished reading Mighty Avengers: No Single Hero, this brings together some of Marvel's street level heroes as they form the Mighty Avengers in response of a new threat attacking New York. The book opens up with Thanos planning his invasion of Earth during the events of Infinity while the Avengers are on the other side of the galaxy. Meanwhile on Earth the Heroes for Hire lead by Luke Cage are stopping a robbery at the docks only for the Superior Spider-Man to intervene as the crates contain parts for his Spiderbots. Back in Manhattan the Heroes of Hire disband over what Spider-Man said about the team while on the other side of the city, Monica Rambeau meets with an old friend as Thanos' forces invade the city causing all of the heroes to jump into action to fight the invading fleet. The final story has the team now called the Mighty Avengers setting up shop in the Gem Theatre when "Spider-Hero" comes in asking for help after getting news of supernatural goings on at the fallen Inhuman city Attilian. Once changed into the Hawkeye's old Ronin costume, "Spider-Hero" and the team head out as Luke Cage and his wife Jessica Jones head to their lawyer when Spider-Man shows up demanding the team to be under his leadership. Overall this was a great book as the character interactions are brilliant with the first meeting between Spider-Man and "Spider-Hero" is extremely funny. While there's slight forth wall breaks within the character box are great because as the book goes on the boxes become less descriptive and slightly more comedic. What lets the book down is the fact that it relies on knowing what happens during the Infinity story arc as the book is a tie in to that story and deals with its aftermath. 8/10.
Finished reading Avengers: The Enemy Within, this concludes writer Kelly Sue DeConnick's first Captain Marvel series as it wraps up Carol Danvers story of her taking the mantle of Captain Marvel. The book opens up with Captain Marvel and Spider Woman looking for Carol's friend Rose who has gone missing during a bad time of Carol's life as she is off her game because of a brain lesion that will cause memory loss if she flys. Once finding the location of Rose and saving her from two Tyrannosaurus with the help of Thor, Carol rushes back home discovering that the last pice of the Magnitron, the machine that helped give Carol her powers has been stolen. After using a Brood attack as a distraction to keep the Avengers and S.W.O.R.D busy, Kree Warrior Yon-Rogg contacts his home world Hala asking to come back home by giving them Captain Marvel and Earth as payment for safe passage. With his request being declined Yon-Rogg decides to remake the earth to resemble that of his home world Hala by activating the remaining Kree Sentries on the planet and using Captain Marvel to power the Magnitron in order to accomplish his plan. The final story has Captain Marvel dealing with the aftermath of her fight with Yon-Rogg as she lost a significant amount of her memories during the fight, her neighbour's daughter Kit try's to help Carol remember with a book she had created about Captain Marvel as Kit is her biggest fan. Overall this was a good book the story with Yon-Rogg has the stakes constantly rising throughout the story as the Avengers are split up around different parts of Northern America to deal with the Kree Sentries while Captain Marvel and Captain America are in New York dealing with Yon-Rogg. While the relationship between Carol and Kit is very heartwarming as its very relatable which strengthens the story and helps Carol deal with her memory loss on a more personal scale. 7.5/10.
Finished watching Minions directed by Kyle Balda and staring co director Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm and Jennifer Saunders. The film opens up to the origin of the Minions (Pierre Coffin) as they evolve from a single cell organism at the dawn of the planet to the creatures they are today as they came onto land in a pre-jurassic era as they serve the most despicable creature which tends to be the thing at the top of the food chain. After causing the defeat of Napoleon in what is presumably Russia, the Minions are stranded in the snow and end up building their own society in a cave they stumble upon. After years without a master to serve the Minions fall into a species wide depression leading to Minions Kevin, Stuart and Bob leaving the cave in hoping to find a new master which takes them to America where they discover the existence of Villain Con in Florida where all of the worlds criminals converge. At the convention the Minions meet villainess Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) who recruits them as her new henchmen taking the Minions back home to London where Scarlet and her husband Herb (Jon Hamm) plan to overthrow the Queen (Jennifer Saunders) so Scarlet can fulfil her childhood dream. Overall this was an okay film as all of the comedy always hits its mark while the pop culture references are great as it helps set the tone and the setting of the film. However the film does have some problems in the character department between the main Minions as the personality traits of Bob and Stuart seem to been influx with one another as at the beginning Bob is energetic and happy Minion while Stuart is fairly timid, then in the scene their characteristics and personalities instantly changes. 6.5/10
